Associated Press: “Staggering Election Day losses are not the Democratic Party’s final indignity this year. At least 13 state lawmakers in five states have defected to Republican ranks since the Nov. 2 election, adding to already huge GOP gains in state legislatures. And that number could grow as next year’s legislative sessions draw near.”

Radio Netherlands Worldwide: “A substitute teacher was sent home by a Christian primary school in The Hague because she was wearing a headscarf. The Muslim woman was sent to the school by a temporary job agency.”

Irish Times: “The policy of removing a child from class during religious instruction without offering them an alternative class may not be in compliance with the State’s obligations to various international institutions, according to the Irish Human Rights Commission.”

Courthouse News Service: “Worshippers who claim to be orthodox Baha’i believers are not tied to a 1966 judgment barring an earlier splinter group from associating with the Baha’i faith, the 7th Circuit ruled.” Opinion here.

Interfax: “The USA Department of State report on religious freedom in Russia for 2010 lacks objectivity and analytical depth, the Russian Church believes. ‘I’d like to wish that in the future the report will have truly equal, friendly attitude to various religious organizations and will avoid selectiveness so that religious situation is reflected more fully,’ deputy head of the synodal Department for External Church Relations Hegumen Philipp (Ryabykh) said in his interview with Interfax-Religion.”

Interfax: “According to the data cited by the head of the State Duma Committee for Family, Women and Children Yelena Mizulina from 5 to 8 million babies in Russia are born out of wedlock . . . The deputy suggested to ‘give legal force to the marriage conducted on religious rites in modern performance.’”

Kyiv Post: “In the latest version of the NIMBY principle, Muscovites are demonstrating against the construction of more than 100 of the 200 new Russian Orthodox churches the Moscow Patriarchate plans to build with the assistance of the capital’s government because such buildings would deprive residents in many cases of public parks.”

The Minnesota Independent: “The Family Council argued that it should be part of the lawsuit, in part, because if DOMA is ruled unconstitutional, it will cost them millions to fight same-sex marriage. The court said the group has no standing to defend DOMA . . . The Minnesota Family Council attempted to enter the lawsuit with the help of James Dobson’s Alliance Defense Fund, an evangelical Christian legal group.”

New York Times: “The novel question before the courts is whether the government can require citizens to buy a commercial product like health insurance. Because the Supreme Court has said the commerce clause of the Constitution allows Congress to regulate ‘activities that substantially affect interstate commerce,’ the judges must decide whether the failure to obtain insurance can be defined as an ‘activity.’”

Toronto Sun: “The woman known as ‘Witness No.8′ says she does not understand why polygamy should be illegal, and her court testimony is offering a glimpse into a religious sect that has vexed officials for years.”

National Post: “Some of the women to come forward despise it. Polygamy is synonymous with abuse, they say. Mental punishment. Rape and torture. They ran from it and they’ll never go back. Other women insist they could ask for no better life. Their fulfillment and happiness on Earth and in heaven depend on plural marriage, an arrangement they call godly and ‘celestial.’”

Winston-Salem Journal: “The state’s ailing budget will take precedent, but Republicans will have time to tackle other issues, including gay marriage, abortion and illegal immigration, when the new legislative session begins, said newly elected Speaker Pro Tem Dale Folwell, R-Forsyth.”

Sydney Morning Herald: “Greens leader Bob Brown will not marry his partner if gay marriage is legalised in Australia – an event the party founder has predicted will occur in the Gillard government’s first term . . . Senator Brown claimed ownership of the recent push to legalise same-sex marriage, but said he felt no duty to marry his long-time partner, farmer and activist Paul Thomas.”

Huffington Post: “The Manhattan Declaration, a controversial app condemning gay marriage, sparked outrage when Apple approved the app for inclusion in its App Store, finding that it contained ‘no objectionable material’ . . . the app was no longer available in the App Store, and it seems Apple has quietly removed the app.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Canadian private members bill seeking to enshrine special rights for so-called ‘transsexuals,’ which has been labeled a ‘bathroom bill’ because it would allow men to use women’s bathrooms, is at grave risk of passing as early as next week, warns Campaign Life Coalition national president Jim Hughes in an ‘urgent’ new video message.”

Omaha World-Herald: “Attaching restrictions to the sale of a vacant city-owned lot may have addressed rumors that Dr. LeRoy Carhart was interested in the property for an abortion clinic in Council Bluffs. But the cheers that the City Council action drew from abortion opponents who packed last week’s meeting may have been premature.”

Pat Buchanan writing at Townhall: “Fifty-seven years after that armistice, a U.S. carrier task force is steaming toward the Yellow Sea in a show of force after the North fired 80 shells into a South Korean village. We will stand by our Korean allies, says President Obama. And with our security treaty and 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, many on the DMZ, we can do no other. But why, 60 years after the first Korean War, should Americans be the first to die in a second Korean War?”

LifeSiteNews: “Despite a recent ‘review and renewal’ of the U.S. Bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), designed in part to ‘woo back’ bishops upset over their distribution of funds to groups advocating abortion and same-sex ‘marriage,’ at least 10 bishops opted not to contribute to the national collection this year.”

LifeNews: “The European Court of Human Rights will be deciding a case involving a German woman who was denied the right to obtain lethal drugs for the purpose of taking her life in an assisted suicide. The court began the case of Ulrich Koch vs. Germany on Tuesday and it concerns the German authorities’ refusal to grant Koch’s late wife the lethal dose of drugs she needed to kill herself.”

Family Research Council: “Much has been said, within Christian circles and without, about the shift of younger evangelicals away from the cultural battles of the last generation. To many in the older generation, this is a sign of ungratefulness and/or unorthodoxy. To many in the younger generation, the agenda they’ve inherited is too limited and lacks constructiveness. What does the future hold for Christian conservatism? Is the concern simply over-hyped? John, a young evangelical, will offer a quick mapping of the diverse expressions of young evangelicalism, a brief analysis of the perceived divide, and constructive ideas for re-connecting the generations towards meaningful causes.”

LifeNews: “This month the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) reviewed and reaffirmed the 2007 Ethics Committee Number 385, entitled The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine . . . The ACOG Ethics Committee rule requires pro-life physicians to refer for abortions. Furthermore, it disparages the notion of conscience to nothing more than a subjective feeling.”

LifeNews: “Of the 1,787, the study found that ‘[t]wenty percent of providers offered abortions after 20 weeks [LMP], and only 8% at 24 weeks [LMP].’ Though the numbers seem small, that translates to at least 300 ‘doctors’ who who will perform abortions after 20 weeks LMP like LeRoy Carhart and, of those, 140 willing to perform abortions at 24 weeks LMP.”

Associated Press: “Top Republicans in Congress are meeting with more than a dozen GOP governors this week to discuss spending cuts, job creation and repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law.”

Jennifer C. Braceras writing in the Boston Herald: “In a culture that glorifies unwed parents like ‘Brangelina,’ Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin, is it any wonder that Time magazine has declared the institution of marriage to be on the verge of extinction? . . . When it comes to marriage, political correctness has given birth (literally) to an epidemic of illegitimacy and single-parenting. And these demographics have important social and economic consequences.”

Al Mohler writing at the Christian Post: “And the demographics? Brace yourselves. In 1960, 70 percent of all American adults were married. Now, that number is just over half. Eight times as many children are born out of wedlock as compared to that same year. In the 1960s, two-thirds of all young adults in their twenties were married. Now, only 26 percent of twenty-somethings are married.”

Dr. Martin Parsons writing at ConservativeHome: “Unless we understand the ultimate aims that Islamist terrorists are seeking to achieve, then every public policy aimed at countering them will be no more than tactics, with little hope of strategic success. Fundamentally, the ultimate aim of Islamist terrorists is that Islamic law (sharia), which is the primary instrument of Islamic government, should be imposed across the entire world on Muslim and non Muslim alike.”

Telegraph: “In a series of papers published by the Royal Society, physicists and chemists from some of world’s most respected scientific institutions, including Oxford University and the Met Office, agreed that current plans to tackle global warming are not enough . . . In one paper Professor Kevin Anderson, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, said the only way to reduce global emissions enough, while allowing the poor nations to continue to grow, is to halt economic growth in the rich world over the next twenty years.”

Robin Phillips writing at the Alfred the Great Society: “On 22 November, the full extent of the EU’s police and criminal prosecution powers emerged. These powers include the ‘European Arrest Warrant.’ This allows British citizens to be captured within the UK and extradited to foreign jails for months or years without bail while awaiting trial without the right of appeal.”

The Hill: “Praying and reading the Bible are part of his everyday life, President Obama said in a wide-ranging interview broadcast Friday. Speaking with Barbara Walters, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama also described how they involve their daughters in daily prayer.”

Star Parker writing at Townhall: “Human judgment can never be removed from the equation. We’ve been sold, and we’re buying, the big lie that machines can replace human judgment and responsibility . . . How can we possibly use technology to identify and root out terrorists when the leaders of our country cannot, or refuse to identify with clarity who these individuals are and what they are about?”

Ron Sider writing at First Things: “Believing (wrongly) that the debate is over, some evangelicals have decided that Christians should let the state define marriage any way it chooses and focus their attention only on what the Church does. This would be a fundamental mistake. The debate is one in which we must be involved for the sake of our society itself. Even a state such as ours, which does not use the law to promote or discourage particular religious beliefs, nevertheless has a huge stake in marriage. It is not simply a religious issue. The law is a moral teacher.”

Catholic Conference of Illinois: “The Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI), on behalf of Cardinal Francis George, OMI, and all the Bishops of Illinois, call upon the Illinois General Assembly to reject Senate Bill 1716, the civil union legislation.”

Diane Ravitch writing in the Wall Street Journal [full text via Google News]: “Now that Republicans have regained control of the House of Representatives, they must take a stand in the battle for control of American education. The issue today is between those who want to federalize education policy and those who want to maintain state and local control of the public schools.”

Robert Barnes writing in The Washington Post: “Here’s how it went down on the Federalist Society stage at the group’s recent national convention: The liberals urged caution and judicial modesty . . . The conservatives, on the other hand, called for revolution. Fight intrusive federal laws in the courts, amend the Constitution, form interstate compacts to defy laws from Washington, and – better yet – demand a constitutional convention.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “The Ninth Circuit today announced the three judges that will hear the case challenging California’s Proposition 8, the amendment to the California Constitution defining marriage as one man and one woman: Stephen Reinhardt, appointed by President Carter in 1979; Michael Hawkins, appointed by President Clinton in 1994, and Norman Randy (NR) Smith, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007. The order announcing the panel can be found here. To learn more about this case go here.”

BosNewsLife: “A detained pastor of a major network of Christian house churches in Iran will be executed by hanging for ‘apostasy’, or abandoning Islam, according to translated court documents seen by BosNewsLife Wednesday, November 24.”

Religion Clause: “On Tuesday, over 80 religious leaders and Obama administration officials gathered at the White House to receive a report from the newly formed Global Initiative for Faith, Health and Development.”

Religion Clause: “A press release from American Atheists issued on Tuesday describes the latest jousting over holiday displays between the Atheist group and a Catholic organization that wants nativity scenes displayed this year in all 50 state capitols.”

Guardian: “A 15-year-old girl has been arrested in the West Midlands on suspicion of inciting religious hatred after allegedly burning an English-language version of the Qur’an – and then posting video footage of the act on Facebook.”

Continental News: “On November 29, Lahore High Court (LHC) in Punjab province of Pakistan has issued a stay order against the release of Aasia Noreen, a poor Pakistani Christian woman, under Presidential Order. Mrs Noreen, 45-years old and a resident of Ittawali village (a Muslim village) in Nankana district, Punjab province of Pakistan, was sentenced to death by District and Session Judge Nankana Judge Naveed Iqbal after the court found her guilty of making blasphemous statements against Prophet Muhammad.”

Stephen J. Heaney writing at Public Discourse: “Being a human male is a biological category . . . The claim is that she is a man in a woman’s body right now, truly a male with a female appearance, a he instead of a she. At the heart of this confusion is a commitment to a certain way of looking at the human person . . .”

Scott A. Hodge writing at Forbes: “If Obama and his advisors are looking for a Clintonesque opportunity to move back to the center in a way that would make a real difference to the economy, he should partner with Republicans to cut the corporate tax rate and reform how we tax the foreign profits of U.S. companies.”

Associated Press: “Traditional, closed adoption violates Islamic jurisprudence, which stresses the importance of lineage. Instead, Islam has a guardianship system called kafalah that resembles foster care, yet has no exact counterpart in Western law. The differences have left young Muslims with little chance of finding a permanent Muslim home in America.”

“Scientists . . . are reporting early success at transforming one kind of specialized cell directly into another kind, a feat of biological alchemy that doctors may one day perform inside a patient’s body.”

Associated Press: “Patrols around mosques and other Islamic sites in Portland have been stepped up as Muslim leaders expressed fears of retribution, days after a Somali-American man was accused of trying to blow up a van full of explosives during the city’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony.”

Associated Press: “Demonstrations and riots swept across Egypt Monday protesting alleged fraud by the ruling party in parliamentary elections in which the opposition said its candidates had been heavily defeated.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “Despite increased rates of illegitimacy, divorced and single parents, and the perception that marriage is ‘becoming obsolete,’ huge majorities of Americans continue to believe that family structures other than married parents increase the challenges children face while growing up, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center and TIME magazine.”

My Fox 8: “[O]fficials here are expected to post the proposed policy regarding the flying of religious flags at the city’s Veteran’s Memorial Park Monday on the city’s website, the Winston-Salem Journal is reporting . . . The policy is being developed with assistance from the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group.”

TPMMuckraker: “The James Dobson-founded Christian ministry Focus on the Family has stepped in to replace Exodus International as the event’s sponsor, and has re-branded and re-framed it The Day of Dialogue . . . ‘The Day of Dialogue is an excellent opportunity for students to respectfully present a different viewpoint than the Day of Silence,’ ADF Senior Counsel [David Cortman] said. ‘ADF always stands ready to offer pro-bono legal assistance to student participants who have their First Amendment rights violated.’”

Oregon Faith Report: “Georgene Rice of KPDQ-FM interviews [Joel Oster], senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, who represents a woman in a fair housing discrimination suit, who posted a note on her church bulletin saying she was looking for a Christian female roommate. Discrimination charges and investigation efforts have recently been dropped.”

Lansing State Journal: “Attorneys for the megachurch will appear in court in Grand Rapids to try to compel the Lansing City Pulse, a weekly newspaper, to turn over documents connected to its coverage of the Nov. 9, 2008, incident in which members of a group calling itself Bash Back! Lansing unfurled a banner and shouted gay rights slogans during the service . . . In April, the church’s attorneys, provided by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, subpoenaed Schwartz asking for published and unpublished documents, including e-mails, related to the incident.”

Winston-Salem Journal: “King officials are expected to post the proposed policy governing the flying of religious flags at the city’s Veteran’s Memorial today on the city’s website: www.ci.king.nc.us/ . . . Under the policy being considered by the King City Council, residents can ask to fly a religious flag at the memorial in the city’s Central Park for a week to honor relatives who served in the U.S. military. The city also would use a lottery system to randomly pick the residents who want to fly a flag there, Joe Infranco, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, who helped King develop the proposed policy, has said.”

LezGetReal: “The Foundation for Individual Rights In Education has decided unilaterally that it is necessary to maintain harassment and discrimination against students in schools because they believe that it is alright to bully lesbians and gays . . . FIRE, which is rather strongly tied to groups like the Alliance Defense Fund and the Family Research Council claims to work on ‘behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation’s colleges and universities.’”

“In response to Prof. Greene’s article, Prof. Fontana offers analysis from a comparative constitutional law perspective and suggestions for future research on the topic. Prof. Fontana is primarily concerned with Prof. Greene’s comparison of the United States to Canada and Australia. Though Prof. Greene argued that all three countries share similar constitutional systems, Prof. Fontana believes the Canadian and Australian constitutions merely reorganized preexisting institutions, whereas the United States has a nation-creating, revolutionary constitution. Other countries that arose out of revolutionary events, such as certain post-colonial African and Latin American nations, have also fostered many originalist arguments. Prof. Fontana makes a persuasive argument that, when nations predate their constitutions, key cultural and political understandings also predate the constitution, thereby diminishing the importance of originalism.”

“A popular but damaging dichotomy is hindering citizens’ ability to talk intelligently and constructively about the constitutional work of the courts. The “legitimacy dichotomy” holds that, when adjudicating constitutional disputes, judges either obey the sovereign people’s determinate constitutional instructions or illegitimately trump the sovereign people’s value judgments with their own. The legitimacy dichotomy leaves little or no room for the possibility that an array of conflicting interpretations of the Constitution might be reasonably available to a judge; it leaves little or no room, in other words, for judicial discretion. This article begins by examining the legitimacy dichotomy from three different vantage points: evidence which suggests that rhetorical invocations of the legitimacy dichotomy mask more complex beliefs about the role of judicial discretion in constitutional adjudication; Justice Kagan’s critique of the now-famous umpire analogy during her confirmation hearing in June 2010; and the debate between Justice Stevens and Justice Scalia in McDonald v. City of Chicago about the extent to which judges may properly exercise their discretion when adjudicating questions of substantive due process. The article then suggests that law schools are inadvertently encouraging at least some of their students to believe that judges’ discretion is almost entirely unconstrained and that judges often behave as democratically illegitimate actors. Finally, in an effort to provide law students and others with an understanding of constitutional adjudication and of constitutional change that is both descriptively accurate and democratically legitimate, the article draws connections between democratic constitutionalism and judicial discretion, and then offers metaphors for explaining that relationship.”